


and now the players arrive at last

by proximally



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Spoilers for Episode: e060-066 The Stolen Century Parts 1-7
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:21:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27126457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/proximally/pseuds/proximally
Summary: The extent of the damage she's caused finally dawns on Lucretia.
Kudos: 15





	and now the players arrive at last

**Author's Note:**

> title from the lyrics of rogue ump by The Garages. yes that's a blaseball song. the garages invented music.
> 
> originally written in april 2018.
> 
> always thought it was kinda a missed opportunity when ppl didn't make the birds' daemons birds, aha.

Perhaps the worst thing is that she nearly didn’t notice.

She’d steeled herself for this reunion, practiced her poker face in the mirror until she could picture them - Taako’s smile, Magnus’ hug, Merle’s advice - and not crack. With Aristeia perched elegantly on her shoulder, his taloned grip tight and comforting, she was the perfect imitation of a stranger.

She’d nearly made it, too. Nearly got through the little speech she’d prepared for this occasion, the welcome words rehearsed but not rote, formal but not frigid. And then a flash of colour catches her eye - a bird, bright blue and beautiful, white-bellied with delicate facial markings. For a moment she’s confused - no employee of hers has a blue jay daemon; she always remembers birds, and this isn’t one of them. And then it alights on Taako’s shoulder, whispers something in his ear, and watches as a smile - alien to the one she’d imagined - tugs at the corner of his lips. 

That’s Loop. Taako’s daemon, who she’s known for over a century, and who, the last time she’d seen them, had been a magpie. She’s trailing off mid-sentence now, but she has to know -- she gives Magnus and Merle a once-over, hoping, and her voice stutters to a stop. 

Matilda-- gods, how hadn’t she noticed as they came in? Mattie’s perched on Magnus’ arm, her huge talons so, so careful not to pierce, and her golden beak and golden eyes level with Magnus’. Celandine is nestled in Merle’s hair - she seems much the same, but her plumage is darker, dusky, and the brightness of her claws faded.

Beatrix… Beatrix, she’d understood. Davenport was so, _so_ changed after what she’d done. A shadow of the person he’d once been, a copper-store action figure of a man she’d come to think of as a father figure, brought to life. It only made sense that Beatrix would be changed, when she’d so thoroughly destroyed her and Davenport both.

But Merle? Magnus? Taako? They’d seemed… stable. Confused, yes, but _okay_ . And yet, here they are. Here they are, with the indisputable, irrevocable proof that she has not just taken their memories, but taken their very _souls_ , the essence of their beings, and reshaped them into something unnatural, untrue, and in that moment it’s all she can do not to throw up.

Aristeia takes over as Lucretia’s voice dies in her throat.

**Author's Note:**

> lucretia & aristeia, an African sacred ibis - bc Thoth & association with writing/knowledge/truth.  
> magnus & matilda, a golden eagle (previously a harris hawk - a very social bird of prey)  
> merle & celandine, a barbary dove (previously a release dove - more or less the same, but has the homing instinct barbary doves lack)  
> barold & gabigail, a great grey shrike - look very small and inoffensive, actually very much predatory  
> davenport & beatrix, a mute swan (previously a canada goose, which are much more migratory)  
> taako & [static], a blue jay (previously a eurasian magpie - both v smart corvids with an eye for shinies, but jays are much flashier and tend to be more aggressive)  
> lup & taco, a black kite - will pick up burning twigs and use them to spread fire and flush out prey  
> (i physically can’t resist the even more literal ‘you are my heart’ lmao)


End file.
